A gay Atlanta doctor was beaten and killed during an altercation outside his DeKalb County home, and a neighbor discovered his partially-clothed body in the street.
Travis Keith Roth, 45, was found on Bowling Green Way outside his midcentury ranch home about 11:20 p.m. on Nov. 4, according to an incident report from the DeKalb County Police Department. Roth’s body was discovered by a neighbor on his rounds through the Northcrest neighborhood leaving food for stray cats.
Officers who initially responded to the 9-1-1 call from the neighbor noticed that the front door to Roth’s home was open, but no one was found inside. There were also no signs of a struggle or robbery inside the residence, according to Major Stephen Fore, a DeKalb Police spokesperson.
Roth likely was killed after suffering blunt force trauma, Fore said. Investigators determined that an altercation took place outside the home and Roth’s likely killer fled the scene in a vehicle.
“It does appear that some type of altercation took place leading up to the homicide. There was nothing to suggest that the altercation was inside. It wasn’t in disarray,” Fore said.
Roth was killed by some sort of trauma, Fore said, and detectives are working to determine the cause of it. An autopsy conducted Nov. 5 was not conclusive about how Roth sustained his injuries, according to Patrick Bailey, interim director of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Roth was killed a week shy of his 46th birthday. Online obituaries for Roth said he died as a result of an auto accident. But the police investigation contradicts that, Fore said.
“They are not investigating this as a hit and run, they are investigating this as a homicide. Our detectives don’t think the vehicle was the cause of death,” Fore said.
Roth, a Kansas native, specialized in emergency medicine. He graduated from Wichita State University in 1993 and earned his doctorate from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1998. He completed his medical residency in Atlanta. Most recently, he worked temporary assignments at several hospitals and medical facilities in metro Atlanta, and was attending law school, friends told Project Q Atlanta.
Funeral services for Roth were held on Nov. 10 in Great Bend, Kan. He was buried at Lakin-Comanche District Cemetery in Ellinwood, Kan. A memorial fund was established in his honor to benefit Golden Belt Humane Society.
In 2009, Roth launched My Gay Doctor with an office on Ponce de Leon Avenue. From 2002 to 2006, Roth served as volunteer medical director for Atlanta Pride. The non-profit informed its board and supporters of Roth’s death on Nov. 9.
For those who did not have the opportunity to meet or work with Travis he was a wonderful dedicated person and Doctor who worked within emergency medicine. Travis volunteered as our medical director at the Atlanta Pride Festival during a time when we only had community volunteer doctors and nurses and worked to secure their support to volunteer and work at the First Aid stations. Travis also volunteered with several groups and LGBT organizations in Atlanta.
Roth was also involved in a handful of companies with Michael Redwine, who is listed with Roth as owners of the home on Bowling Green Way in tax records in 2013 and 2014. They operated Michael Redwine Properties and Monkeyflower Farms, an organic farm that appears to be defunct. In 2009, the pair also created Nestings Real Estate Group. The men were also listed as members of the Madison-Morgan Conservancy in 2012-2013. Redwine's name is not included on the tax assessment notice issued in May.
Redwine could not be reached for comment on Friday.
